


Everything Under the Stars

by slightly_ajar



Series: Stable AU [10]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Discussions of grief, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Stable AU, dad!Jack, discussions of the loss of a parent, gratuitous kittens, questionable science, teen!Mac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22786129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightly_ajar/pseuds/slightly_ajar
Summary: “I think Herschel’s found a girlfriend and she’s had babies.”Jack peeked into the darkened corner. Soft, high pitched mewing drifted out. Tiny grey, white and black furred baby cats were pressed up against their mother’s side, climbing over her and each other with clumsy waddles.“Yep,” Jack said, “those wigglers are brand new and freshly cooked - their eyes are closed and their ears are still folded up.” He dropped a hand onto Mac’s shoulder. “Son, we have kittens.”There are kittens at the stable, Jack’s mum comes to visit and Mac and Jack have a science fair and a painful anniversary to face.Set in dickgrysvn's Stablehands + Stable Homes AU and alongside violetvaria’s Stable AU
Series: Stable AU [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1491458
Comments: 34
Kudos: 47
Collections: Stable_AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very big smooches to dickgrysvn's for being so generous with the AU she created and violetvaria’s for letting me join in and for being so encouraging about this story.

Life was normal. As normal as life ever got in the Dalton family. That normal included movie marathons, cooking disasters, terrible puns, heartfelt promises, scientific exploration and quiet, still moments when someone, or sometimes two someones, were scared, doubtful or weary and needed calm and closeness. 

When Mac had been making a sundial to go in his nana’s garden for her birthday he’d looked up phrases that it could be engraved with. He had found some quotes that he’d liked (The shadow by my finger cast, divides the future from the past) but his favourite had been ‘Light and shadows by turns but always love’. It felt appropriate to give that to the matriarch of his family and the person who had helped shape his dad - the source of all the love in his life during the bright and dark times. 

So. Normal. 

Then Mac made a discovery underneath the stairs leading up to the stable hayloft. 

“Jack.” he called. “Umm, Jaaaack, you need to come and see this!” 

“What?” Jack appeared, concerned and a little flustered. “Are you okay? Did Pepper escape? Have you finally figured out how to spin straw into gold?” 

“Do what with straw?” Mac frowned. 

“Weave it into gold, like in the story with the funny little man with the weird name. We have a lot of straw and gold would be useful.” 

“No I haven’t been doing that.” Mac decided to leave questions about that story until another time. “Look.” He pointed to the space underneath the stairs. One of the horse blankets had been dragged there and curled up in the rumpled tartan was a slender grey cat and five wiggling, fur covered little shapes. 

“I think Herschel’s found a girlfriend and she’s had babies.” 

Jack peeked into the darkened corner. Soft, high pitched mewing drifted out. Tiny grey, white and black furred baby cats were pressed up against their mother’s side, climbing over her and each other with clumsy waddles. 

“Yep,” Jack said, “those wigglers are brand new and freshly cooked - their eyes are closed and their ears are still folded up.” He dropped a hand onto Mac’s shoulder, “Son, we have kittens.” 

“Kittens?” That was completely unexpected and potentially inconvenient and so exciting, Mac thought, a thrilled rush tingling through him. Kittens! “Do we need to leave them alone?” He asked, anxiously peering at them. “They say that mother birds can reject their chicks if people handle them, is it the same with cats?” 

“That’s up to the momma. How close we get to them depends on how she feels about us.” Jack dropped to a crouch and spoke in a low voice to the lady cat curled up in her borrowed bed, “What do you say, are you going to let us see your babies?” He slowly reached out a hand towards her and the cat sniffed at it then closed her eyes with pleasure as Jack scratched the top of her head. 

“Good girl,” he crooned. “Five little ones?” Jack smiled as one of the kittens wriggling it’s way across it’s blanket lined nest became stuck in a fold and mewed for it’s mother’s help. “You’re going to be busy.” 

“Should I get the mother some food and water?” Mac watched the mom cat rescue her trapped baby by picking it up by the scruff of it’s neck then put it down between her front paws and start to clean it with swift strokes of her tongue. 

“That’s a good idea, buddy. She’ll probably be ready for some refreshments.” 

As Mac stood to fetch a bowl of water and some of the dried food they kept in for Herschel the new father came padding down the hayloft stairs completely unconcerned about the complication he’d just caused. 

“Herschel, you hound!” Mac heard Jack call. “And I thought your days were filled with chasing mice and lounging around. How did you find time to get yourself a girlfriend?” 

Herschel ignored Jack. Or at least pretended to. Mac thought he had a particularly smug twitch to his tail as he trotted over to Crosby’s stall. 

“Where do you think she’s come from?” Mac asked as he put the bowls he’d filled beside the mother cat who sniffed at the food then started to eat. Her fur was grey with a white flash on her chest and she had big amber eyes. She seemed to have no fear of people, Mac wondered if she had a home somewhere, people who were missing her. 

“I don’t know, she isn’t wearing a collar.” Jack said. “I’ll ask my buddy who’s a vet to come and have a look at her and the kittens. She might be chipped and if she is we can contact her owners. I think I’ve seen her a couple of times on the drive here but I didn’t think much about it, I just figured that she was someone’s house cat that had gone prowling, I didn’t guess that she’d been keeping company with Herschel.” 

“Maybe if she has an owner they’ll want some of her kittens.” Mac crouched down beside Jack. 

“Maybe. We can’t keep them, the stable doesn’t have enough mice to feed this whole family.” Jack scratched at the stubble on his chin. “It’s probably best that we don’t name them. Once you name something you get all attached and it makes letting it go hard. Besides, their owners will give them names.” 

Mac nodded, that made sense. When Herschel had come to live with them they’d named him and that had made him theirs. As cute as the kittens were they weren’t going to be his. 

And they were cute. Mac had never been near such young animals before. They could have fitted in the palm of his hand. 

Jack noticed him watching. “Do you want to hold one, bud?” 

“Could I?” Mac looked down at the tiny, mewing bundles of fur, “I mean, will it be okay with the mom?” 

“I don’t think she’ll mind?” Jack carefully scooped one of the kittens up and placed it in Mac’s hand. Mac’s heart gave a thrilled twist. The kitten looked too small and delicate to be real. The grey, white and black striped baby mewed as it shakily attempted to crawl across his hand. Mac could feel it’s quick heartbeat against his palm and it’s soft fur tickled his fingers. “Welcome to the world, little guy,” he said, stroking it softly. He had a brand new life in his hands. Tiny, vulnerable and pure. It was remarkable, like being allowed to be part of something wild and beautiful. 

“There’s no feeling like it is there?” Jack said at the look of wonder in Mac’s eyes. “Having a new baby in your arms is like nothing else.” 

Mac met Jack’s affectionate look with one of his own. Whenever he started to wonder if life with Jack would stop giving him ways to do, see and feel new things an event would happen - like the surprise arrival of furry babies - and Mac would find himself learning something he hadn’t known he hadn’t known. 

“My mom is going to love this.” 

The first time Mac had met Jack’s mom she’d grabbed hold of him and hugged him so hard Mac had felt something in his back pop. She’d been everything Mac had expected her to be and a delightful surprise at the same time. 

Her plane had arrived late in the morning and Jack had driven to pick her up while Mac was at school. Mac had been secretly pleased he hadn’t gone to the airport. He wasn’t sure what Nana was going to do or say or how he’d feel when they met so he was glad that he was going to be on familiar ground when they did. She was family. His Nana Bea. He’d spoken to her but he’d never actually met her and the idea of meeting someone he was related to but didn’t know was strange. What were they supposed to say to each other? Jack loved her and Mac suspected that he was supposed to love her too. He’d talked to her on the phone and she was nice - he liked her - but did he love her? What if he didn’t? Would Jack be mad? What if she didn’t like him? What if she realised he wasn’t special like Jack said he was? Jack was always saying how smart and good Mac was, and Mac let him even though deep down he worried that when Jack looked at him he didn’t see who Mac really was. What if his mom could see the truth? 

He’d opened his front door slowly when he got back from school and listened hard for voices. He heard laughter coming from the kitchen and smelled something wonderful. 

“Jack? I’m home.” Mac called. 

“We’re in the kitchen.” 

Mac let his backpack slip off his shoulders and drop to the floor as he started to walk towards his dad’s voice. He got within a few feet of the kitchen door when a figure with short fair hair, a flour covered apron and a huge smile burst through it and engulfed him in an enormous hug. 

Nana Bea was several inches shorter than him so Mac had to bend to put his arms around her. Her hold was strong and all-encompassing like Jack’s was but with an added feeling of something else he couldn’t name. Something ferocious and maternal. It was a little bit like being hugged by a mama bear, strong and fierce, warm and a little bit intimidating. 

“Oooh, let me look at you!” Nana Bea cried, holding Mac out at arm’s length then resting a hand on his cheek. “You’re so handsome! You’re even better looking in person than you are in the photos Jack sent me! Come here.” She kissed Mac on the cheek then pulled him to her for another hug and Mac glanced up to where Jack was watching them as he leaned against the door jam. He sent a pleading look Jack’s way but his dad just smiled and reached out to wipe dusky rose lipstick off his cheekbone. 

Jack’s mom insisted on making them dinner and baking a banana cream pie and they sat together around the kitchen table eating. 

“So Mac, I’ve brought photos,” Nana Bea said, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. 

Jack’s eyebrows twitched with alarm. “Now, Ma, Mac might not want to see old photos of you with your 60’s haircut.” 

“Of course he does. My hair was amazing back then, I looked like a Texan Twiggy.” 

“Twiggy?” 

“That’s what your father used to say. He liked my hair. He liked my miniskirts too,” she winked at Mac. 

“Ugh, Momma!” Jack cried, outraged. 

She rummaged in her voluminous handbag and pulled out a thick photograph album. It was scuffed with age and use and she opened it to a front page full of old, sepia toned pictures. As they looked through the pages Mac saw photos of Jack’s grandparents, his sister and her children and a whole host of family members who were all introduced as ‘your great uncle Elijah’ and ‘George, your first cousin once removed’. 

“That’s your grandpa.” Nana said, her finger slowly stroked down the edge of a photograph of a man wearing a suit and standing in a stiff pose. Jack looked like his dad, they had the same eyes and the same dependable set to their shoulders. Mac fancied he could see humour and kindness in his grandpa’s gaze despite the formality of his stance. 

Mac didn’t have any photographs of his parents. He didn’t want any of James, but his mom, it would be nice to have a photo or two of his mom. Maybe when other people saw them they would say he looked like her. James had sometimes said that but it never sounded like he thought it was a good thing, he always said it like it was something he disapproved of. It would be nice for someone to say that he had her eyes with a smile on their face. 

Nana Bea kept smiling at Mac and reaching out to pat his hand during that first visit. She was so sweet to him and looked at him with such a glow of pride and affection in her eyes that he found her outpouring of love a little overwhelming. It was difficult to know how to respond. He’d asked Jack about it but all Jack had said was that he should be himself. 

“That’s not actually very helpful.” 

Jack had shrugged. “She likes you, she just wants you to be happy. So be you and be happy and that will be enough for her.” 

“But that’s not...” 

“Don’t overthink this one, kiddo. Thinking isn’t what you need to do. Just be, okay?” 

“I don’t think I know how to just _be_.” 

“You’re doing it right now.” 

“Yeah, but...” 

“Mac,” Jack grabbed him and kissed his forehead, “my mom doesn’t need anything from you, okay? She doesn’t love you to get something back. Stop worrying.” 

Mac had thought that on Nana Bea’s subsequent visits she might be a little less zealous with her affection but that hadn’t happened. When she’d visited them after Jack’s accident she’d hugged him in the same way - maybe a little harder - so he was prepared for her upcoming visit

She arrived three days after the discovery of the kittens under the stairs. Mac had gone with Jack to the airport to meet her and he’d heard her calling to them over the boom and echo of the airport’s background noise. She hugged Mac with the same intensity he would have expected from a maternal grizzly. 

“Ooh my boys!” She said as she’d squeezed Mac and then Jack. “I’ve missed you, I want to hear all about what’s been happening in your lives!” 

“The usual, you know us.” Jack said, picking up his mother’s suitcase. 

“Nothing is ever usual with you, honey.” Nana Bea grinned at Mac. 

“That’s...fair,” Jack said, weaving his way through passengers and luggage trollies as he led his son and his mother to the terminal’s exit, “and where do you think I get that from? But anyway, we’ve had a close encounter of the furry kind, Herschel, our stable cat-”

“The Not A Lap Cat Cat?” One of Nana Bea’s eyebrows ticked up in a tiny, sardonic flicker. 

“That’s the one.” Jack ignored his mom’s expression. “He’s found a lady friend and they’ve made some little Herschels.” 

“You’ve got kittens at the stable?” Nana Bea drew an excited breath, “How many? How old are they? Are they healthy? Where did the mother cat come from? What colour are they? Do you have homes for them? Are you going to keep any?” 

“There’s five of them, they’re fine, I don’t think we’ll keep any and I’ve lost track of the rest of your questions, sorry.” Jack said. 

“If I’d known there were going to be kittens I’d have changed my flight to an earlier one.” Nana Bea said as they stepped through the automatic doors and headed towards the car park. “My book club met yesterday but I don’t think the girls would have minded me missing one meeting, not when I explained that there were going to be kittens.” 

“So you’ll change your flight for kittens but your son and grandson can wait till after you’ve talked to your friends about Gone with the Wind?” Jack teased. 

“We’ve been reading Fifty Shades of Grey. And I can Space Time with you and Mac any time but it’s not every day you get to hold new born kittens.” She spotted Jack’s truck and took off with a determined march towards it. 

“Space Time?” Jack said to Mac in an undertone.

“I think she means Face Time.” Mac whispered back. 

“Oh, okay. Hold on!” Jack tensed uneasily as he finished processing what his mother had said. “You’ve been reading Fifty Shades of Grey?” he called. 

Nana Bea threw her son a wicked grin over her shoulder. “Just kidding, baby. We’ve been reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover, it’s a classic.” 

“It’s a classic.” Jack‘s distressed expression melted away. “That means it’s probably about people in long dresses and top hats drinking tea and walking on lawns or whatever it is they did for fun in the olden days, that doesn’t sound too bad.” 

Mac didn’t have the heart to correct him. 

  


Nana Bea was delighted with the kittens. 

“They’re so precious!” She’d tucked herself under the stairwell with the mewing babies. The mother cat lay on one of the extra blankets Jack had placed in the cosy nest she’d made and watched attentively as her babies crawled up to Mac’s nana demanding attention. Nana Bea picked up one of the kittens that was awkwardly attempting to climb over her legs, the kitten cradled in her hands wiggled and sniffed as she stroked it. “I miss having animals around the place. Maybe I should think about getting a cat.” 

“You can have one of those.” Jack said, “Actually you can take them all if you want to we’re going to have to find homes for them. I’ve asked Sara but she said her husband is allergic and Diane’s landlord won’t let her have pets.” 

“Honey, I would love to but I don’t think a cross country flight would be good for them. Maybe I’ll go and have a look in the rescue centre near me.” 

“Yeah, I suppose they are too young to earn their wings.” Jack crouched next to his mom and stroked the kitten in her hands. “It’s a shame, I think you’ve found a friend.” 

A car door slammed outside the stable and Jack glanced at his watch. 

“Do you have a lesson booked?” Nana Bea asked him. 

“Yes, with little Cassie. She hasn’t seen the kittens yet, she’s going to love them.” Jack nodded at Mac. “You might be replaced as her favourite thing about in the stable, bud.” He stood with a soft grunt and walked over to greet his student. 

Mac sat down beside his nana and reached over to stroke the mother cat as he waited for Cassie. The grey cat purred and Mac could feel her contentment vibrating under his fingers. 

“She’s a good mom isn’t she?” Nana Bea asked, smiling at the mother cat as she lifted her chin to let Mac scratch at the soft fur there. “She found a good, safe place to have her babies and she’s doing a great job of raising them.” 

“She is.” Mac agreed. The babies in question were healthy, happy, warm and were currently tumbling over each other in a lively, messy pile of small paws and furry playfulness. 

“You’re a clever girl,” Nana Bea reached over to pet the mother cat with the hand that wasn’t holding a kitten, “and a lovely mommy.” 

“Mac!” Mac looked up and saw Cassie running towards him. “Kittens!” 

“Cassiopeia,” Mac heard Cassie’s mom call. “Wait for me!” 

Cassie usually listened to her mother but the call of kittens was too strong to resist and she ran all the way over to Mac. “Can I see? Can I hold one?” She bounced on the balls of her feet then remembered her manners, “Please?” 

“You’ll have to ask your mom.” Mac looked over to see Jack and Cassie’s mom Helen following in Cassie’s wake. 

Helen nodded, smiling. “You can but you have to be very, very careful. They’re only babies and they’re very delicate, just like Percy was when he first arrived.” 

“Okay,” Cassie held out her hands, shivering with joy. She beamed as Jack’s mom very carefully placed the kitten she was holding into her open palms. The little cat filled her small hands and when it chirped and sniffed in Cassie’s direction her face lit up like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, her delight palpable. 

“Mommy?” Cassie’s eyes were huge and pleading. She didn’t have to say a word, everything about her was asking to take the kitten home from the top of her solemn expression to the tips of her bright yellow boots. 

Helen sighed. Jack laughed. 

“That’s a face it’s going to be difficult to say no to.” 

“Cassie, I -” Helen sighed again, “Your father and I talked about his last night, we had a feeling you’d want a kitten as soon as you saw them. We can’t take any home yet, they're not old enough to leave their mom.” 

“But, can we?” 

“I don’t see why not. It could be nice to have some pets around the place.” 

“Pets?” Jack asked, quickly picking up on Helen’s words. “Will you want more than one?” 

“Well, two kids, two kittens, it keeps things fair.” Helen looked resigned but pleased. 

“Thank you!” Mac wouldn’t have thought it was possible but Cassie managed to glow a little brighter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote ‘the shadow by my finger cast, divides the future from the past is from Henry van Dyke. I’m not sure where the quote ‘light and shadow by turns but always love’ originally came from , I know it from a book called Moondial by Helen Cresswell that I loved when I was a child. 
> 
> The fairy story where that features 'the funny little man with the weird name who can weave straw into gold' is Rumpelstiltskin. 
> 
> Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence is a classic but it’s not the gentle, refined story that Jack is imagining. It caused a scandal when it was published because of it’s graphic description of sex and for including four letter words. It was banned in some countries and was the subject of an obscenity trail in the UK in 1960. 
> 
> Twiggy was a 60’s British model - she’s considered to be one of the first supermodels - who was known for her big eyes and short hair. She worked as a judge on America’s Next Top Model from 2005 to 2009 so presumably she’s really good at smiling with her eyes 😉


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be aware that this chapter features discussions of grief and the death of a parent.

“The Tomato: Fruit or Vegetable?” Bozer suggested, striking a dramatic pose like he was pitching a movie idea to a top producer. 

Mac and Riley laughed. “Maybe we’ll put that one on the bottom of the list.” Mac tapped his pen on the piece of paper in front of him that was covered in scribbles. 

Bozer and Riley had been working with Mac in his basement lab on their joint science project. They’d been brain storming ideas for their assignment, wanting to come up with something that combined their skills and was interesting and quirky. Nothing they’d come up with so far felt right and their suggestions had started descending into the ridiculous. 

“What if the moon really was made of cheese?” Riley said. 

“It would be blue wouldn’t it?” Bozer offered, then when Mac and Riley blinked uncomprehendingly at him he added, “Blue cheese, blue moon? Come on, work with me here people!” 

“Moving quickly on,” Mac said, “How about: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” 

Bozer wrinkled up is face in thought, “Is there actually such a thing as a woodchuck?” 

“Yes,” Mac nodded, “groundhogs are also sometimes known as woodchucks.” 

“And do they chuck wood?” 

Mac blew out a breath. “I don’t actually know the answer to that.” 

“I’ll Google it.” Riley reached for her laptop and tapped some of the keys. “The Wi-Fi has disconnected so no I won’t.” She flopped back in her seat. “Look, maybe we should take a break. I think we should step away to refresh our brains because if we’re not careful we’re not going to have any better ideas and we’ll end up with a science project that actually is about woodchucks. Besides,” Riley quirked a smile, “the smell of the cookies your Nana is baking has been making my stomach rumble for the past ten minutes.” 

“I’ve been thinking about the cookies too.” Bozer admitted, he inhaled deeply through his nose, “I smell chocolate and,” he sniffed again, “more chocolate.” 

“You had me at ‘chocolate’.” Riley pushed herself up from her chair. 

They all headed for the basement stairs. 

“How’s the project going?” Nana Bea asked, pulling oven gloves off her hands as they trooped into the kitchen. 

“It’s not really going anywhere.” Mac told her. 

“Yeah,” Riley added, “it’s kind of circling the drain right about now.” 

“Well, that sounds to me like the perfect excuse to take a break.” Nana Bea pointed to the double chocolate chip cookies sitting on a cooling rack on the kitchen counter. “I’ve just got these out of the oven. I read somewhere that chocolate is good for the brain.” 

Mac, Riley and Bozer helped themselves to some of Nana Bea’s cookies; they tasted good when they arrived in a parcel but when they were still warm from the oven they were unutterably lovely. Mac could see Bozer working himself up to asking Nana Bea for the recipe. 

“Have I ever told you about your dad’s science project with Missy Donoghue?” Jack’s mom asked. 

“No.” Mac replied

“Missy Donoghue,” Jack’s mom smiled at the memory. “She was in your dad’s ninth grade science class and he had such a crush on her. I’ve told you this story, right?” 

Mac shook his head while Bozer and Riley looked intently at Jack’s mom, excited to hear a new and hopefully funny story about Jack. 

Mac’s friends had met his Nana during her last visit when she and Bozer had bonded over their love of cooking. She’d given Bozer her prized chocolate cream muffin recipe and he’d promised to keep it safe and only use the power of what she’d described as ‘the best cake for turning frowns upside down’ for good. 

“They dated and did a project together but their love affair only lasted until the assignment hand in date then she dumped him. It turned out she was only interested in him for his blood group, she’d needed a lab partner with a universal donor blood type for the project.” Jack’s mom shook her head sadly, “Missy broke my boy’s heart, almost literally.” 

Riley bit into a cookie, gave a crumby ‘Aha!’ of triumph and started typing into her laptop. “The Wi-Fi is spotty in the basement,” she said, “but it’s reconnected now were back up here.” 

“You should create a doohickey that makes Wi-Fi for you when you’re in the basement.” Nana Bea said from her seat at the kitchen table. “Maybe that would be something you could do for your project. You should make the Wi-Fi run on cookies, or steam or, oh I don’t know,” she joked, “good intentions.” 

“Steam powered Wi-Fi?” Mac looked at his friends as the electric zing of inspiration buzzed through him. He saw the same spark of creativity in their eyes. They could - with a couple of turbines - and wires that led to - and if they coupled that with - “Steam powered Wi-Fi! Nana, you’re a genius!” Mac jumped up from his seat and kissed her on the cheek then ran after Bozer and Riley into the basement to start their plans. He heard her shout, “You’re welcome!” as they clattered down the steps. 

Mac didn’t think about that kiss until later. It was like something that Jack would have done. Mac examined how he felt about it and realised that he wasn’t embarrassed, it had felt like a perfectly natural thing to do. Because it had been. 

  


Nana Bea visited the kittens again the day before she flew home. 

“I know this isn’t heaven,” she said as she sat with her back to the wooden wall and her legs stretched out in front of her with the baby cats clambering over her, “but I’m pretty sure I can see it from here.” 

The cries of the kittens mingled with the rustle of hay and occasional snorts coming from the stalls. Mac watched the cats explore and look for attention from his nana thinking that their mother couldn’t have found a safer place to have them. The stable had always been a sanctuary for him and having the mother cat and her kittens there felt like a confirmation of that. Like the caring, safety and warmth within the walls of Dalton’s Stables was so bright and rich that wild, unwanted creatures were drawn there. It had taken him in, it had helped Hal heal and was nurturing the tiny furry babies that had arrived unexpectedly but were welcomed nonetheless. 

The kittens had grown, their ears were no longer folded flat and their eyes had opened. They still called for their mother frequently but were growing bolder at exploring their world, occasionally getting stuck between two bales of hay, behind a pitch fork and on one memorable occasion inside a bucket. Herschel often sat watching them from a seat on a stable door with what looked like a confused frown on his furry face as if he couldn’t quite understand how or why the kittens come to be there. 

“This one is on you, Romeo!” Jack had said to Herschel when he’d caught him hiding, curled up in the quiet of Pepper’s stall, from the rambunctious chaos five kittens and a whirl of windblown straw had caused. “I’ve booked an appointment in with the vet to make sure this won’t happen again. It’s nearly time to say goodbye to those asteroids of yours. Does Uranus have any moons?” Jack had called to Mac. 

“It has twenty seven that we know about but there might be more that haven’t been discovered yet.” Mac had answered. 

“There are going to be two less soon.” Jack had said, eyeballing Herschel. 

Mac sat on the ground beside his nana and the mother cat climbed into his lap, rubbing her face against his chin and purring as two of her children scrambled up the front of Nana Bea’s sweater. 

“Have you found anyone else who wants to give homes to these little darlings yet?” Jack’s mom asked as she rubbed her cheek against the softness of the kitten in her hands. “Does your girlfriend not want one, Mac?” 

Mac blushed at his nana calling Katie his girlfriend. She was he supposed, even though he’d never asked her. Was he supposed to ask her? Was he supposed to say ‘Katie, will you be my girlfriend?’ or something fancier like ‘Katie, please would you kindly do me the great honour of agreeing to be my girlfriend?’ before she officially was? Was he supposed to buy her flowers and hide them behind his back surprising her by suddenly showing her them. He’d seen that in movies. Was she waiting for him to do that? 

Mac realised that he’d been worrying about his relationship with Katie and hadn’t answered his nana’s question. “No, Katie’s been trying to persuade her parents to let her get a puppy for years and she thinks she’s almost won them over so she doesn’t think she can ask them for a kitten too.” 

“That’s a shame. Has that little girl, Cassie, picked which kittens she’s going to have?” 

“Those two,” Mac pointed to a dark and light striped grey kitten with a white tip on the end of it’s tail and one with it’s dad’s grey and black colouring. The striped kitten was busily stalking the sun beam that was reflecting off Mac’s watch and the black and grey one had just run at full pelt across the stable, jumped in fright at absolutely nothing then rushed back to it’s mother for comfort. 

“Has she chosen names?” Nana Bea 

“Cherry and Pickle.” Mac said. 

“Which one is which?” 

“I don’t think anyone knows that yet.” 

Jack’s mom laughed. 

  


Nana Bea flew home. The house felt quiet and empty when Mac and Jack got back from the airport. 

“My momma is a small woman but she fills up a lot of space, if you know what I mean.” Jack said. 

Mac nodded. He did. 

  


”I don’t understand it,” Jack said, watching the huffing, chuffing, whirring, blinking, fizzing, bubbling device take shape, “but I love it. It looks like something a person from the Victorian era would use to travel in time.” 

Mac, Bozer and Riley’s steam powered Wi-Fi entry was the loudest and most vaporous submission in the Thinking Outside the Box – Bright Young Minds in Science competition. They set it up on their table in the corner of the school gym with curious looks following each pipe and brass beaker. 

“We wanted to make it look Steam Punky.” Riley said. 

“Well, if to be Steam Punky a thing has to look like the kind of contraption Sherlock Holmes would watch Netflix on then I’d say you’ve nailed it.” Jack clapped her on the shoulder. 

It did look a little bit like that actually, Mac thought, looking at the invention through squinted eyes. “The whole steam powered Wi-Fi thing was Nana Bea’s idea,” he pointed out. 

“She told me, more than once. You realised that if this contraption here ever makes you a million dollars you’ll have to share the profits with her.” Jack said. 

“I don’t know if I can see every house in America having one of these.” Bozer replied. 

“It is a little on the large side that’s true,” Jack tapped carefully at a section of copper piping. “But it’s a conversation starter. And besides, some people have pink flamingos in their yards, art that’s a painting of weird blue horses on their walls and lava lamps, there’s no accounting for taste.” 

“I like lava lamps.” Riley said. 

“So do I,” Jack admitted, “but my point is still valid.” 

“What do you think Nana Bea would do with her share of a million dollars?” Mac asked as he tightened one of the last screws in their invention. 

“She’d go on a cruise.” Jack said, counting the adventures his mom would take after a windfall off on his fingers, “buy a coat for every single type of weather including an arctic winter and a monsoon and she’d get a tattoo.” 

“Why would she wait to be rich to get a tattoo?” Riley looked confused. 

“I don’t know, but she’s always said that if she ever came into a lot of money she’d have a tattoo done.” 

“I wouldn’t wait to be rich if I wanted a tattoo, I’d just get one.” Riley said. 

“Who’s getting tattooed?” Jack squeaked, startled, “And where?” 

“Don’t worry, I’m not getting any ink done.” Riley smirked a little. “Yet.” 

Jack’s eyebrow shot up towards his hairline. 

Mac walked around the gym to check out the competition. The other entries were good, some were really good, but he felt quietly confident. After all, theirs was the only invention that had blinking lights, gave off clouds of steam and occasionally let out a deep throated hoot. And his phone had just notified him that the ‘Steam_MRB1’ network was available for him to connect to. 

Jack didn’t tell every single person in the gym that Mac was his son but the way that he stood behind him with a proprietary lean in his direction made it clear to everyone near that that was the case. He beamed with pride when they won then hugged Mac, Riley, Bozer then Mac again. 

“I’m so proud of you, buddy,” he whispered in Mac’s ear as the judge handed over the winner’s ribbon. And he said it again when they left the school. And then when they climbed into the truck. And when they pulled up in front of their house. And when he unlocked their front door. And when they finished their evening meal. And when he said good night to Mac before he went to bed. 

  


Mac was in the stable office. Jack was cleaning out Crosby’s stall. The kittens were causing mayhem. They were prowling the stable, exploring the territory that they saw as theirs and generally getting underfoot. 

“It’s a good thing they’re cute.” Jack grumbled as he scooped up a kitten that was trying to squeeze itself under the door to Pepper’s stall. “How long before they can move into their new homes?” he called to Mac. 

Mac turned to look at the calendar hanging on the office wall. “Well,” he said to Jack as he walked through the office door, a kitten sitting in his hand and biting at his watch strap, “going by the date they were born they’ll be old enough to leave their mother...” 

He looked at that day’s date. He looked at the dates the day before and the day before that. Two days ago it had been the 19th, an innocuous little number printed in green on the Murphy’s Best Equine Feed calendar that hung on the office wall peppered with notes like, ‘vet’s appointment’ and ‘delivery: 10.30am’. 

That date, the 19th, didn’t mean anything. But it also meant something important. Something that didn’t matter at all to anyone except the people it mattered to very much. When Mac looked at the green figures he felt like the worst and most selfish person in the entire world. 

“Mac?” Jack said at his son’s abrupt silence, “what is it?” 

Mac slowly lowered himself to sit on the desk. He felt heavy and hollow at the same time. Guilty and sickened.

”Mac?” Jack asked again, more urgently. “Son?” He sat down next to Mac with the kitten still snuggled against his chest. “Please tell me what’s wrong.” 

“The day before yesterday was my mom’s birthday. I forgot. I didn’t realise. I forgot.” 

“Ah, kiddo.” Jack put the arm that wasn’t holding the kitten around Mac and pulled him close, his voice and touch soft. 

“I’ve never really done anything on my mom’s birthday but I always knew when it was; this year with the kittens, Nana Bea visiting and the competition I was too busy to notice it was coming up. That’s kind of awful isn’t it? Like, selfish?” Mac couldn’t look at Jack, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the calendar on the wall. How could he not have realised what the date was? How could he have been so wrapped up in himself that he forgot about his mom? He hadn’t thought about her because he was too busy with kittens and a stupid science fair. She was his _mom_. 

“No. What? No!” Jack said as he considered Mac’s words. 

“But it’s like I was only thinking about myself.” 

“You’ve been busy leading a happy, full life. That isn’t selfish, that’s what your mom would have wanted for you.” 

“You’re busy but I bet you’ve never forgotten Nana Bea’s birthday. What would she say if you did?” 

“I did once,” Jack said, turning slightly and changing his hold on Mac so he could place the kitten in his hand into Mac’s lap. Mac automatically took hold of the cat and it nuzzled against his fingers, “I was abroad, with the army, I was in a place where I couldn’t go out and buy a card and a book of stamps and nowhere near a phone. I didn’t get to call her until almost two weeks after her birthday. Can you imagine? I thought she was going to go through me like a bottle of extra hot sauce but she said that she understood, that she was just glad to hear that I was okay. She said that I didn’t have to tell her I loved her on a particular day for it to count. It counted every time I told her. So, son, if you remember your mom and care about her then you aren’t selfish. Birthdays are just dates in the calendar and we’re all aging every day, didn’t you tell me that once?” 

“I suppose.” Mac tried to sound like he believed Jack but even to his own ears he sounded thoroughly unconvinced. 

“Do you want to do something for her?” Jack asked. “We could give money to charity in your mom’s name or take flowers to the cemetery if you’d like?” 

“Maybe. Maybe we could give money to a charity but I’d rather not go to the cemetery. I don’t think I want to see her name carved in stone. I’ve only been there a couple of times and I never liked it. I always felt like there was something I was supposed to feel or do but I didn’t know what it was and then I felt guilty.” 

“Then we can do something different, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy, we could just go for a horse ride one evening and watch the sun set, why don’t you think about it?” 

“I will.” Mac leaned against Jack, the soft scratch of his shirt on Mac’s cheek and the tang of his aftershave were familiar and comforting. He stroked the kitten tucked in his arms to feel it’s silky fur and tried not to think too much. “I’d like to get back to work now – finish what I was doing.” 

“Are you sure, bud?” Jack asked, “You can stay in here and sit quietly for a while or we can go home early if you like.” 

“No, no thank you, I’d rather be busy.” 

Doing something didn’t help exactly but at least if Mac was moving he could feel the pitchfork in his hand and the rough itch of straw against his fingers instead of the heavy, desolate pain weighing him down. Mac finished his chores with the detached precision he often felt during his bad times when he had just enough energy to go through the motions of being a functional human being without actually applying any effort or emotion to what he was doing. When he felt like that he could be effective but not creative, civil but not kind. 

He felt Jack watching him and wasn’t sure what his dad saw. 

As they were closing the stable for the day Mac watched the mother cat carry the kittens to their bed in her mouth. 

“Do you think they’ll remember her?” He asked as the kittens crowded around their mom for attention. 

"Will who remember who?” Jack asked. “Will the kittens remember their mom?” 

”Yes, they’ll only know her for a short amount of time. When they go to their new homes do you think they’ll remember that their mom was grey and white, what it felt like when she held them and that they slept together on an old blanket that smelled like hay?” 

“I don’t know.” Jack answered. “But I do know that when they become parents they’ll care for their babies in the same way she cared for them. They’ll just know how to. I think,” he said, locking the office door and wandering over to stand beside Mac, “I think there are things you remember in your mind and there are things you remember with your whole body. Things you know are right and real because you’ve felt the truth of them on your skin. It’s like, the first time I hugged you,” Jack pulled Mac into his arms, “I knew that we were both in the right place. When I held you I thought, ‘yes, this, this is family’. I knew that because I know how family feels when I hold it. So the kittens might not be able to remember the light patches of fur that their momma had under her whiskers but they’ll know what her love felt like, hmm?” 

Mac curled his fingers into Jack’s shirt and held tight. Two of the kittens tumbled over each other in a play fight. Pepper snorted as if she was trying to have the final word. 

”Come on, kiddo,” Jack gave Mac a squeeze, “I have an idea.” 

“What are we doing?” Mac asked as Jack led them to the truck. 

“Ahhhaa!” Jack winked conspiratorially. 

“I don’t know what that wink means.” 

“You will.” 

They stopped for take-out at the diner then Jack settled behind the wheel of the truck as if he was planning on driving for longer than the ten minutes it took them to get to their house. 

“Are we not going home?” Mac asked. 

“We will eventually but we have something to do first. It’s Saturday tomorrow so it’s okay for you to get home a little late since you won’t have to be up for school in the morning, right?” 

“Right.” 

“Good.” 

“So...?” 

“Everything’s fine, kid, just sit back and enjoy the ride.” Jack turned the radio in the truck on and fiddled around until he found a song he liked. 

“You know I could sync up one of the playlists I set up on your phone and the truck's stereo.” Mac offered. 

“Nah, where’s the fun in that? I like the - what’s the word - it’s one of those long words that means something complicated? It sounds a bit like saran wrap and means discovering something you weren’t expecting to find?” 

“Serendipity?” 

“That’s it! The serendipity of listening to the radio. Are we going to hear an advert for dental floss or a Bruce Springsteen classic, no one knows, we’ll just have to listen and find out.” 

“Okay.” Mac conceded and sat back. 

”Eat your steak sandwich and just enjoy the scenery, son. Okay?” 

Mac looked out of the window and took a bite of his food. As they drove the town faded into the countryside, walls and fences becoming wildness. Jack had turned the radio up loud enough so he and Mac didn’t have to talk and it was nice, Mac concluded, to just sit and listen and watch. Pink and orange ribbons of sunset swept through the darkening sky. The road grew more and more deserted and the wilderness crept closer to the truck until there were trees looming over the climbing, winding road they were following. 

Jack sang along with the radio, having heartfelt if unsuccessful attempts at all the harmonies and both parts of each duet that played; Mac didn’t think he would ever be able to hear Under Pressure in the same way again, especially since Jack kept seguing into Ice Ice Baby. He had one hand on the steering wheel while the other waved around in time with the music and occasionally played air drums. “Nearly there, just a few more minutes,” he eventually said. 

True to his word, about five minutes later Jack pulled in to a clearing at the top of the hill they’d been steadily climbing for miles. 

“C’mon kiddo, follow your old man.” 

The clearing they were on overlooked a tree filled valley that stretch out below them, a flock of birds that were too far away to identify dipped and wheeled as they began roosting for the night. The view was too rugged and wild to be called pretty - the hills of the valley were jagged and strewn with boulders and the fading light made the forest seem like a place where careless ramblers would be swallowed up and never seen again - but it was beautiful.

Jack got out of the truck and pulled himself up to sit on it’s hood. He waited until Mac had tentatively climbed beside him to lay back, staring up at the sky. Mac copied. Away from human civilisation and it’s light pollution the Milky Way was breathtakingly clear above them. The infinite number of lights glistened, looking like they were almost close enough to reach out and touch despite being unimaginably far away. 

Do you know the names of any of them?” Jack asked, jerking his chin upwards at the constellations. “Is Uranus out tonight?” he added with a grin. “Or is the International Space Station floating past? We could wave to the astronauts.” 

”That’s Venus.” Mac pointed up to a particularly bright light. 

“The planet of love,” Jack drew out the word love, pronouncing it _lurrrrve_ , “nice.” 

“The atmospheric pressure on Venus is ninety times that of Earth, the atmosphere is made up of mostly carbon dioxide and it rains sulphuric acid, so it’s only the planet of love if you enjoy being crushed, poisoned and melted.” 

“That’s a hard pass on a day trip to Venus from me.” Jack said, “I’ll stick with planet Earth.” 

“It is the only planet that has Bruce Willis movies.” Mac pointed out. 

“That’s true, and it's the only one with The Rolling Stones.” 

“And deep dish pizza.” 

“And the Dallas Cowboys.” 

They smiled at each other in the fading light then looked back up at the universe. 

“I like to go to the cemetery to talk to my dad but every now and then I come here,” Jack said, still looking heavenward, “sometimes, like you said, I don’t just want to see a name on a gravestone. So I come to this place. I feel like he’s here,” Jack gestured around him “and he’s here,” he thumped his chest with his fist. “He’s in the stars, the trees, the hills and in me.” 

The evening was cold and Mac was glad that Jack had insisted he put on his jacket. A shiver rippled through him that had nothing to do with the chill of the evening air. 

“I never met your mom but I feel like I know her a little because I know you. She’s here too. Here with my old man,” Jack nodded upwards, “and here.” he tapped a finger between Mac’s ribs, just above his heart. 

The sight of his mom’s headstone had always left Mac feeling empty, her loss a void in his chest. He wondered if it had been like that for James too, if having a chasm inside him where his love for his wife had lived is what left him unable to care for his son after he lost her. Being in nature under the stars with Jack filled Mac with emotions as infinitely complicated as the cosmos above him. He missed his mom terribly, but he also felt like he was near her. And he was near Jack too. And the trees and the wild animals he could hear rustling and calling to each other. He was part of the world and in a way his mom still was too. He snuggled closer to his dad, resting a cheek on his shoulder. Jack was solid and comforting and Mac watched his chest rise and fall with each breath he took and thought about being alive, being alive in each moment and how he felt insignificant under the universe but also like each of his tiny heart beats thrummed in time with the pulse of nature. 

“Do you think they’re here together? Like we are. Your dad and my mom?” 

“Oh yeah,” Jack said, “I’m sure they’re hanging out and swapping stories.” 

“Do you think they’re okay?” Mac cringed a little as he voiced the question but in his last memories of his mom she was sick and wrapped in blankets to keep out a chill that only her thin frame could feel. He wanted to think that she was warm and happy. He wanted to hear Jack say it because then he would believe it was true. 

“I think they’re both fine, son. And I think they’re watching us, watching us and smiling, feeling pride and love.“ 

Mac nodded, his throat too thick with emotion to speak. His eyes stung and the stars blurred until he blinked his tears away. “Thank you for bringing me here, Jack.” 

“Anytime, son.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The results of my Google search were very unhelpful on the subject of whether woodchucks actually do chuck wood. Some of the links said they do but others say they don’t so I’ll have to leave you to draw your own conclusions. Maybe Mac, Riley and Bozer’s project should have been about that… 
> 
> Under Pressure is the epic duet by Queen and David Bowie, Ice Ice Baby is the – errr – slightly less epic song by Vanilla Ice that sampled it’s famous baseline.


	3. Chapter 3

Dr Amanda’s office was a simple room with a squashy sofa, comfortable chairs and a neutral colour scheme that Mac supposed was meant to look soothing. He felt safe there, supported, like it was okay to be vulnerable or unsure and he could talk about anything. He told Doctor Amanda about missing his mom’s birthday and his and Jack’s visit to the hills to look at the stars. 

“It sounds like the trip was helpful,” she said when he finished his story. 

“It was. It wasn’t nice exactly because the reason we went there was sad but it was helpful, positive even.” After the moon had risen, the sky had turned a deep, deep black, the temperature dropped too low for comfort and Jack had made two jokes about werewolves they’d decided to go home. Jack sang along with the radio again - this time with more satisfaction than vigour - and Mac sat silently beside him trying to really, truly experience the way he was feeling. He wanted to capture the warmth inside him and keep it safe so when he was low or scared he could surround himself with a clear recollection of the glow of love and serenity he was feeling. 

“I think I’ve been through the place you drove to, it’s a beautiful area.” Doctor Amanda said. 

“Before we went I asked Jack about the kittens and whether they’ll remember their mom when we find them homes because they won’t see her again after they leave the stable. He said even though they might not remember details about her they’ll remember what it felt like to be with her. Do you agree?” Mac asked, “I mean, you’ve talked to a lot of people, has anyone ever told you about remembering someone even though they only knew them when they were babies?” Mac chewed his lip. He trusted Jack’s thoughts and opinions but Doctor Amanda was a therapist, she must have talked to a lot of people about loss and memories, she might have insights that Mac hadn’t thought of. 

“I’ve found that some people’s memories of a person they only knew when they were very young are impressions of that person, like a feeling, the sound of a voice or the idea of a smile. Having memories like those are just as valid as being able to recall tiny facts about a person like what their favourite ice cream flavour was. And, ask yourself, what captures the true essence of who a person was - knowing what kind of car they drove or remembering how being with them made you feel?” 

Doctor Amanda was intelligent and kind and Mac respected her. She’d helped him in a way that no one else in his life had, or could have, but there were times she’d say things that, when you reduced them down to their component parts, were just like the kind of things Jack would say. It could be like Mac was coming to therapy to hear Jack’s thoughts spoken with a different voice. Jack would have used a movie quote or a story about the time he tried to jump over a table to impress a girl as an example but the advice would have been the same. 

“That’s kind of what Jack said.” 

Dr Amanda’s lips quirked in a smile. “Your dad must be a smart man.” 

“I’ll tell him you said that, he’ll be thrilled.” 

As he was leaving Mac was struck by inspiration. “Doctor Amanda,” he asked, “the kittens - we're having trouble finding homes for them. I know I shouldn’t ask you if you want one because it probably isn’t appropriate since I come here to talk to you and all but do you know anyone who wants a kitten?” 

Doctor Amanda nodded. “I couldn’t take a kitten because of our therapist/client relationship but I do have a friend who lost her cats last year and has been talking about getting new ones. I can pass the number of the stable onto her with Jack’s permission.” 

“I’m sure Jack will agree, thank you.” Mac said.

  


“You look happy.” Jack was waiting in the reception area reading an old celebrity gossip magazine. “Did you and Doctor Amanda have a good chat?” 

“No, well, yes but that’s not why I’m smiling, she said she has a friend who might one some of the kittens.” 

Jack’s eyes brightened, he rubbed his hands together. “Not that I’m not fond of the little critters but they’re going to need homes and I’m running out of places to look for them.” 

“She said if we leave her the number of the stable she’ll pass it on.” 

“Great. Excellent.” Jack said as he headed to the front desk to leave his details with the receptionist. “Bring on the cat lady.” 

He jotted his number down on a post it note then turned to leave, casually dropping a hand onto Mac’s shoulder. “So, Doctor Amanda’s cat loving friend, what do you think she’ll be? A power suit wearing business woman, a long haired, soft voiced Earth mother or a preppy looking high school teacher?” 

Mac hummed in thought as he climbed into Jack’s truck. “A hybrid driver with geeky tendencies,” he guessed. 

“You would say that.” Jack said as he drove out of the parking lot. 

“What?” Mac asked. 

“Nothing.” 

“What!” 

“Nothing! Don’t get yourself riled up there, son.” 

“I’m not riled up.” 

“You are a touch riled up.” 

“I’m not!” 

“Are so. Just a teensy bit.” Jack smirked, “But think about it. You would invent a woman with geeky tendencies wouldn’t you?” 

Mac huffed. 

Doctor Amanda’s friend, Maggie, turned out not to be most of those things, or she could possibly have been all of them, Mac considered, they didn’t really have chance to talk to her when she came to the stable. Her hair was pulled back off her face in a high ponytail and she was wearing a hoodie, running trousers and trainers. 

She arrived when Mrs Bellamy’s lesson was about to start and as the kittens had just entered what Jack called their Mad Five Minutes where they rushed around, chasing things only they could see like they’d just downed four espressos. 

“I’ve just been to the gym,” Maggie tugged at her hoodie apologetically, “I should have probably gone home to change but I was too excited to see the kittens to wait.” 

“That’s fine, we're not exactly a formal attire kind of place. Except for Mrs B over there,” Jack waved to where Mrs Bellamy was standing outside Pepper's stall talking to her favourite horse, “she always arrives dressed like she’s come for high tea.” 

Mrs Bellamy waved back, “Dress impeccably and they remember the woman, that’s what Coco Chanel said,” she called. 

Jack led Maggie over to where the kittens were with Maggie following him with a joyful bounce in her step. 

“Those two have somewhere to go to,” Jack pointed to the two kittens that Cassie had chosen, “but the other three are ready and waiting for a new home.” 

Maggie dropped to sit on the floor with her legs crossed and the kittens bounced over to clamber onto her, mewing and patting at her shoe laces. “They’re so beautiful! I might need a minute here,” she said as she picked one of the cats up and kissed it’s furry head. 

“Take all the time you need.” 

Jack gave Mrs Bellamy her lesson while Mac did his chores and Maggie stayed on the floor with the kittens the entire time. The kittens climbed over her and played with her and Mac couldn’t tell who was having the most fun. Laughter and miaows drifted out from the space under the hayloft stairs and by the time Mrs Bellamy gracefully stepped down from Pepper’s back Maggie had a wide smile on her face and straw and fur stuck to her clothes. 

“Have you made a decision?” Jack asked, heading over to Maggie after bolting Pepper’s stall door shut. Mac followed. 

“I’d love to take all three of the kittens but I really haven’t got room for them all so I’ve chosen these two.” She pointed to a kittens who’s grey fur was so light it was almost white and one with thick, black stripes. “I’ll need to go and buy cat food and kitty litter for them, will they be ready to leave their mother soon?” 

“In about a week.” Jack told her, “You’ll have time to think of names.” 

“I was thinking of naming them Amy and Rory,” Maggie shrugged self-consciously, “they’re characters from a TV show I like called Doctor Who, my last cats were called Rose and Captain Jack Harkness.” 

“Geeky tendencies!” Mac mouthed to Jack, delighted, over the top of Maggie’s head. 

Jack ignored him. “Those are good, solid names.” 

“I should go,” Maggie stared wistfully at the kittens, “I really need to change into clothes that I haven’t been wearing to a Spin class then got covered in fur, and I have some shopping to do.” The thought of a visit to the pet store perked her up and she kissed both her kittens goodbye, exchanged numbers with Jack then left the stable with the occasional piece of hay fluttering down from her hoodie as she walked. 

“She looks happy.” Mrs Bellamy had finished fussing over Pepper and walked over to where Jack and Mac were standing. “Is she going to take any of the kittens?” 

“She’s taking two,” Jack said, “so that means we’ve just got one left to find a home for.” 

“I’ve been wondering about what’s going to happen to the mom?” Mrs Bellamy leaned over to stroke the grey cat who was sat grooming herself on a hay bale. “Does she have anywhere to go?” 

“Not yet.” Mac answered. “She didn’t have a collar and the vet said she isn’t chipped so she doesn’t have a home. We'll need to find somewhere for her to live too I suppose, people have only really been interested in the kittens so far.” 

“Poor thing, you’re such a lovely girl, aren’t you?” Mrs Bellamy scooped the mother cat up into her arms where she settled comfortably. The slender grey puss stretched up and delicately sniffed Mrs Bellamy’s nose then licked it with a quick swipe of her tongue. 

Mac had never seen anyone fall in love before. He’d heard of love at first sight but believed it was the kind of thing that only happened in fairy tales and musicals but as the mother cat’s little pink tongue kissed her nose Mac saw Mrs Bellamy fall quickly and deeply and utterly in love. 

“Oh!” she said, tickled pink with joy. “Oh aren’t you darling? What a sweetheart. I suppose,” Mrs B said with the cat still nestled in her arms, “I suppose I’m too old to take any kittens - I don’t think I could keep up with a furry little bundle of mischief - but I have time and space for an older, more refined animal. What do you think pretty lady,” she said to the cat purring away in her arms, “do you want to come and live with me?” 

The mother cat lifted her chin so Mrs Bellamy could scratch her. 

“I think that’s a yes.” Jack grinned. “It looks like you’re a cat owner, Mrs B.” 

“I’m going to call her Lady.” 

“Lady?” Jack asked. 

“Yes, Lady.” Mrs Bellamy gave a determined nod, “Whether or not you are a lady depends on who you are inside not your circumstances, and this girl is definitely a lady.” 

“So you’ll have some shopping to do too.” Mac said.

“You’re quite right, dear.” Mrs Bellamy told him. “I’ve never had a cat before, I’ll need lots of things like a bed and a collar and some dangly toys for her to play with. There’s so much to do!” She put the mother cat – Lady – down bursting with enthusiasm and intent. “I’d better get started, it wouldn’t do for her to come to her new home and it not be ready. Goodbye sweetheart,” she told her cat as she picked up her bag. “Goodbye boys, I’ll see you soon.” She bustled out of the stable and Mac saw scarlet collars made of velvet and silk cushions in Lady’s future. She was going to be the most pampered cat in the town, possibly in the whole state. 

“That was unexpected and very sweet.” Jack said as he stared in Mrs B’s wake. “What was that word again? Seren...?” 

“Serendipity?” 

“Serendipity! That’s it! I suppose the kittens were that for us so it makes sense for their mom to have some serendipity-ous-ness in her life. I know that isn’t a real word,” he added, giving Mac the side eye. 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“Yeah, but I know how you think.” 

“That means there’s just this little one who hasn’t got a home to go to.” Mac gathered up the final kitten that hadn’t yet been claimed. He was a mess of grey, black and white splotches with a black patch over one eyes that gave him a piratical air. The kitten purred and grabbed at Mac’s hand with his little paws. “You know,” Mac started carefully, an idea forming, “you said we don’t have enough mice in the stable to feed the whole kitten family but we might have enough for two cats.” 

“Two cats?” Jack drawled, matching Mac’s measured tone. 

“We have Herschel already obviously, and since this one doesn’t have anywhere to go then maybe he could just stay.” The kitten was trying to climb Mac’s shirt like it was a tree with fat, sleeping birds perched at the top. 

“Stay with us?” 

“It’s just a thought,” Mac shrugged, self-conscious. “We don’t have to keep him. I just thought it might be nice if we, you know, gave him a home.” 

He’d found a home at the stable. So had Hal and Herschel. And the little one trying to bite a button off Mac’s shirt needed somewhere to belong. Mac had watched him playing in the straw and had become aware of the urge to take care of him too, it was what they did in the stable after all. 

Jack moved closer to Mac and scratched the kitten on the head. It turned and went for Jack’s hand with it’s tiny, sharp teeth like a snow leopard bringing down prey on a sparse winters morning. 

“He has spirit, I’ll give him that.” Jack smiled as the millions of years of evolution that had gone into developing an apex predator attacked his little finger. 

“We-we don’t have to.” Mac stammered, “I just thought-”

“No, it’s a nice idea, I like it. I guess it’s time to give this little firecracker a name.” 

“I named Herschel,” Mac said, “so it can be your turn to pick this name.” 

“Hmm, let me look at you.” Jack took the kitten from Mac, wrapped his hand around it and held it up, examining it carefully. “It’s tricky, when you have a cat called Herschel, you can’t really have another one called something like Bruce, it’s name should be something sciencey or spaceyfied.” 

What was space related but also Jack related, Mac thought. “What’s the name of Bruce Willis’ character in The Fifth Element? That movie is about things that happen in space.” 

“Korben Dallas! Bruce Willis is called Korben Dallas in The Fifth Element so we should call the kitty Dallas! It’s the perfect name for Herschel Jr – it’s spaceyfied, it’s about Bruce Willis and it can also refer to the Dallas Cowboys! Kid, I know I’ve said this before but you're a genius.” 

Jack lowered the kitten down to eye level. “So, Dallas, it looks like you’re living with us now, whaddya think?” 

Dallas miaowed. 

“I’m taking that to mean you’re thrilled.” Jack put the newly named kitten down onto the floor and it ran over to pounce on one of it’s siblings. “This place is a father/son operation so you’d better start learning how to catch rodents from your old man.” Jack called after him. 

“I think he’s more likely to learn how to find the best patches of sun to slouch in from Herschel.” Mac said as he watched the kittens chase each other up the hayloft stairs and down again. 

“That’s important cat behaviour too.” Jack, the day’s events putting him in an effusive mood, threw his arms around Mac and pulled him close until they were stood with Mac’s back pressed against Jack’s chest. “So, kiddo, what have you learned from your old man? How to charm the ladies? All the quotable moments in Die Hard? The perfect way to flip a pancake?” 

“We usually get pancakes from the diner.” 

“So you’ve learned that the perfect way to flip a pancake is to get someone who is better than you at it to do it.” Jack laughed, and Mac could feel the rumble of his joy against his back. “What else do you think you’ve learned apart from that slice of wisdom?” 

“I’ve learned about stars,” Mac said simply, “and about the things underneath them.” 

“So you know everything now? I mean, the stuff that’s under the stars is everything.” Jack asked, at ease, rocking them both slowly from side to side.

“No, but I feel like I know about important stuff, like how there’s always something new to learn and discover.” 

“That there is.” Jack was still for a beat, thinking. “I have something new in the truck for you actually.” 

“You do?” 

“I do. I was going to wait until later to give it to you but it feels like we’re having kind of a moment right now so hold on and I’ll go and get it.” 

Jack gave Mac a squeeze and jogged out of the stable. Mac crouched down next to their new kitten – Dallas – to scratch him. Dallas’ purr was like the rumble of the finely tuned engine in Jack’s GTO, deep and satisfying. He flopped on to his side as an invitation for Mac to keep stroking him. 

“So how to you feel about staying?” Mac asked the cat, “I think you’ll like it here.” 

Dallas rolled onto his back to show off his fluffy white tummy. 

“Oh no, I’m not falling for that again.” Mac avoided stroking the kitten’s stomach and stuck to running his fingers along his soft, tabby patterned sides. “The claw marks have only just gone from my fingers from the last time I stroked a cat there.” 

Mac did feel different about the kitten now that he had been given a name, he felt like theirs, he wasn’t just One Of The Kittens anymore, he was Dallas. He had only been called that for three minutes but Mac already couldn’t imagine giving him up. 

When Jack had adopted Mac and given him his last name Mac had felt different. He hadn’t expected to, he was already living with Jack and Jack was acting like his dad – he called Mac son and made him feel like family – so he didn’t think anything would change after the adoption paperwork was stamped in the courthouse but it had. He became a Dalton and he felt like he belonged to someone, more than he’d ever felt he belonged with his biological father. His mother had been his mommy, and he missed her even though he barely remembered her, but his biological father wasn’t daddy, he was James. James was someone he didn’t want to miss. 

“Found it!” Jack trotted over to Mac holding a rectangular shape in his hand. “It isn’t wrapped, I mean, it is a present but not the kind that you wrap, I’m not saying happy birthday or anything like that it’s just a...well here.” Jack stumbled to the end of his sentence and handed the gift over to Mac who turned it over and stared at the pictures under the glass front of the photo frame he was holding. 

“I’ve been thinking, with my mom turning up with her photo album and then, you know, our trip out to see the stars, I was thinking that you don’t have any photos of your mom. I asked Riley and she said they’ve been digitalling all the old school yearbooks so she did a typing bipppity boopitty search and found those two.” 

Jack pointed to two of the three photos in the frame, the first was his mother’s senior year student photo. ‘Ellen Murray’ the caption said with the quote, “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music - Friedrich Nietzsch” underneath. There was also a photo of the Botany Club with his mom holding a rose in her hand in amongst a group of other students. 

“Ri found the other one in the local newspaper’s archives, your mom must have been on the committee when the town held a Christmas pageant and she made it into the paper. The third picture of his mom, older than she was in the yearbook, took up the majority of the frame. It’s caption read ‘Ellen MacGyver with her festive poinsettia displays’. Mac’s mom was looking straight into the camera and smiling but the detail that Mac couldn’t take his eyes off was the way her hands were resting on her rounded pregnant stomach. 

“That’s nice sized baby bump.” Jack’s voice was gruff, “It looks like she was busy cooking you in there.” 

Mac stared. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a photograph of his mother. Seeing her smiling out at him was like being under the vast expanse of stars again and like everything in the universe was contained in the small wooden frame he was clutching in his hands. 

“You look like her, especially around here,” Jack circled a finger around his eyes. “You inherited her hair colour too. How are you with flowers because it looks like she was pretty good with them? Mac?” Jack reached out and gently brushed his fingers through Mac’s hair, “Son?” 

Mac found that it’s difficult to talk when you feel like all the stars and moons and gas rich nebulas in the universe are ringing inside you. What was he supposed to say anyway? Thank you? Jack had made his mom real to him in a way she hadn’t been since he was a young child, ‘thank you’ wasn’t enough for that. Nothing would ever really be enough to express what that meant to him. 

“Come here, kiddo.” Jack pulled Mac to him, wrapping him in a papa bear hug. 

Mac waited until Jack holding him allowed him feel the solid earth under his feet again before he finally attempted to speak. 

“I said that I’ve learnt about everything from you but it’s more like you’ve given me everything. You’re my dad and this is my life and... and that’s...that’s _everything_ Jack” 

“You're welcome, son.” 

Jack was holding him, Herschel was sat on a hay bale considering the best spot for a sun warmed snooze, the horses were whickering and crunching their feed and Dallas dashed past Mac’s feet like an overexcited dervish on his way to cause mischief. 

It was just another normal day at the Dalton stable, Mac thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mrs Bellamy quoted Coco Chanel: “Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”


End file.
